Androgenic refers to increased male sexual characteristics
Steroids are the class of drugs
Steroids can be used legally for delayed puberty
Steroids can also be used for other diseases that result in loss of lean muscle mass
Anyone can abuse AAS to increase physical appearence and performance
AAS are taken orally or injected
Steroids are taken in cycles of weeks or months
Users often combine several different types of steroids, a practice referred to as stacking
AAS in the brain can affect gene expression
AAS can effect mood and behavior
Many users are feeling good about themselves while on steroids, but extreme mood swings also occur, including symptoms that lead to violence
AAS can cause depression which could lead to suicide
Steroid users may also encounter other drugs like heroin
Health problems for men taking AAS are shrinking of the testicles, reduced sperm count, infertility, baldness, development of breasts, increased risk for prostate cancer
Health problems for women taking AAS are growth of facial hair, male-pattern baldness, changes in or cessation of the menstrual cycle, enlargement of the clitoris, deepened voice
Health problems for adolescents taking AAS are stunted growth due to premature skeletal maturation and accelerated puberty changes; adolescents risk not reaching their expected height if they take AAS before the typical adolescent growth spurt
People taking AAS have more of a chance of getting AIDS or hepititis
There has been very little research on treatment for AAS abuse
Current knowledge derives largely from the experiences of a small number of physicians who have worked with patients undergoing steroid withdrawal
Therapy seems to work with most AAS abusers
Medication can be used sometimes to restore hormone level
Story of steroid use in sports began just before the World Weightlifting Championships of 1954, the Soviet Union confessed about taking testosterone injections
Some unconfirmed sources say Germany used AAS in 1936 at the Berlin olympics
In the original olympics athletes were known taking herbs to increase anabolic performance
People tried anything to increase performance back in the day, because the olympics were all they lived for
In 1956 Dr. Ziegler and the Ciba pharmaceutical company made a steroid called "Methandrostenolone" or Dianabol
"Methandrostenolone" or dianabol was the first anabolic steroid that wasn´t testosterone
Since 1956 many steroids have been developed, each one with their own set of characteristics
By the late 1960´s the East Germans had also entered the fray and were giving steroids to their athletes as part of a state sponsored program to bolster national pride by winning Olympic Gold Medals
Dianabol was quickly made available to anyone looking for an extra edge
Steroids helped many bodybuilders, weightlifters, football players, and Olympic athletes train harder, longer, and more efficiently
Steroids enhanced protein synthesis and allowed new muscle to be built at a rate that was much more rapid than would otherwise be possible. And that increased muscle power and strength translated into financial rewards for the athletes who were taking them
If you were an athlete looking to take your career farther, Dianabol could be a part of your diet
Athletes all over the world wanted to know where to get them and how to use them
In 1968 there was an official complaint about steroids made by the World Health Organization
Steroids were being over produced by the major pharmaceutical firms, and were subsequently shipped to certain third world countries, where doctors would receive a kickback for prescribing large amounts of them
Kenya and Jamaica were where this was happening, and they did well at the olympics that year (surprisingly)
At this time, there were no documented reports of athletes using steroids in sports other than Olympic competition
At this time, a ban on Anabolic steroids was issued by the International Olympic Council
By the 1990's AAS have been found in high school level sports
Steroids were tought in high school in the mid 80's
The MLB was the last major sports league to issue a drug policy ban
This all started with a bottle of a nutritional supplement seen in Mark McGwire´s locker
At this time, McGwire was en route to breaking a home-run record that had been standing for decades
A estimated roughly fifty percent of the players in the league were using them also
Jose Canseco, in a book published during the height of the steroids in baseball media coverage, estimated that 85% of all players in MLB used steroids, and also admitted using them
Steroid policy in football and the NFL as we know it began in 1987
With regards to football, it would seem that current educational efforts are not working well
The most famous story of steroid use in the NFL is that of Lyle Alzado
Seven years after having a successful career in the NFL, in 1992, Alzado died from brain lymphoma
He was 43 that year, but in the years preceding it, Alzado became an often used symbol of the dangers of steroid abuse
There is absolutely no medical link between steroids and brain lymphoma, and there is absolutely no reason for Alzado to believe his condition was related to steroid use
Bill Romanowski wrote a book, in which he admits that Victor Conte introduced him to several performance enhancing compounds, notably anabolic steroids
Bill Romanowski was a great linebacker
As long as there is prestige and money to be earned from playing football, there will be steroids in it
Ben Johnson broke the world sprinting record in the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games, he tested positive for Winstrol (Stanozolol)
Ben Johnson denies this because he says he used it 28 days before the race, which you are allowed to do
So the test remains very suspect, although Ben Johnson was suspended and stripped of his Olympic Gold medal. He probably suffered the worst fate of all the people who have been caught using steroids either at the Olympics or otherwise
Although some athletes still compete for the love of the game, prestige often accompanies success. And today, just as two millennia ago, athletes often find the opportunity to compete for both prestige as well as money
And that is why they sought out performance enhancers in the ancient Olympic Games, and that´s why athletes are using steroids in sports today
1886 Twenty-four-year-old Welsh cyclist Arthur Linton dies during a race from Bordeaux to Paris; he is believed to have taken trimethyl, a stimulant
1889 French physician Charles-Édouard Brown-Séquard, 72, extracts testicular fluid from dogs and guinea pigs and injects it into himself. He claims to feel years younger with renewed energy
1935 German scientists develop anabolic steroids as a way to treat hypogonadism -- testosterone deficiency. Butenandt would later win the Nobel Prize for his cumulative findings in sex hormones
1940-45 Nazis test anabolic steroids on prisoners, Gestapos and Hitler himself. Testosterone and its analogs are used by German soldiers to promote aggressiveness and physical strength. Hitler's mental state toward the end of his life exhibits characteristics that some scientists associate with heavy steroid use
1945-47 Anabolic steroids are used to help reverse the wasting effects of war and concentration-camp imprisonment
1954 As the U.S.S.R. begins to dominate the sport of powerlifting, a Soviet team doctor allegedly reveals his team's use of testosterone injections to U.S. weightlifting doctor John Ziegler
1958 Ziegler's anabolic steroid -- methandrostenolone -- is released by Ciba Pharmaceuticals under the name Dianabol
1960Sports Illustrated publishes Our Drug-Happy Athletes by George Walsh, exposing the use of amphetamines ("pep pills"), tranquilizers, cocaine and other drugs in elite sports
1969Sports Illustrated produces a three-part investigation about performance-enhancing drugs in sports
1975 The International Olympic Committee adds anabolic steroids to its list of banned substances
1983 The governing body of the Pan Am Games in Caracas strips Chicago weightlifter Jeff Michels of three gold medals, and three other Latin American weightlifters of theirs, when they test positive for anabolic steroids
1988 The high-profile rivalry between sprinters Carl Lewis and Ben Johnson comes to a head when Johnson posts a record-smashing time of 9.79 seconds. Johnson's time is deleted from record books and his gold medal stripped after the anabolic steroid Stanozol is detected in his urine sample
1991 Twenty former East German coaches admit to administering anabolic steroids to some of their swimmers
1990 The Anabolic Steroids Control Act is introduced by Congress. for which trafficking is now a felony, not a misdemeanor
992 NFL defensive end Lyle Alzado dies of brain cancer on May 14. The 43-year-old two-time All-Pro believed his disease was the result of more than two decades of steroid and HGH
1999 The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), an independent agency, is formed through the IOC
2000 Urinalysis tests are improved to detect EPO, but blood doping -- the injection of one's own red blood cells -- remains undetectable. Potential risks of blood doping include blood clots, strokes and thromboses
2005 Former NFL linebacker Bill Romanowski admits to using steroids obtained through Conte
Anabolic steroids. 6 Sep. 2008 ESPN. 20 Nov. 2008 http://espn.go.com/special/s/drugsandsports/steroids.html.
Anthony , Roberts. Steroids in Sports. Steroid.com. 21 Nov. 2008 <http://www.steroid.com/steroids-in-sports.php>.
Rebecca, Shore. How we got here. March 11, 2008 Sports illustrated. December 7, 2008 <http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/magazine/03/11/steroid.timeline/index.html>.
- 1886 Twenty-four-year-old Welsh cyclist Arthur Linton dies during a race from Bordeaux to Paris; he is believed to have taken trimethyl, a stimulant
- 1889 French physician Charles-Édouard Brown-Séquard, 72, extracts testicular fluid from dogs and guinea pigs and injects it into himself. He claims to feel years younger with renewed energy
- 1935 German scientists develop anabolic steroids as a way to treat hypogonadism -- testosterone deficiency. Butenandt would later win the Nobel Prize for his cumulative findings in sex hormones
- 1940-45 Nazis test anabolic steroids on prisoners, Gestapos and Hitler himself. Testosterone and its analogs are used by German soldiers to promote aggressiveness and physical strength. Hitler's mental state toward the end of his life exhibits characteristics that some scientists associate with heavy steroid use
- 1945-47 Anabolic steroids are used to help reverse the wasting effects of war and concentration-camp imprisonment
- 1954 As the U.S.S.R. begins to dominate the sport of powerlifting, a Soviet team doctor allegedly reveals his team's use of testosterone injections to U.S. weightlifting doctor John Ziegler
- 1958 Ziegler's anabolic steroid -- methandrostenolone -- is released by Ciba Pharmaceuticals under the name Dianabol
- 1960 Sports Illustrated publishes Our Drug-Happy Athletes by George Walsh, exposing the use of amphetamines ("pep pills"), tranquilizers, cocaine and other drugs in elite sports
- 1969 Sports Illustrated produces a three-part investigation about performance-enhancing drugs in sports
- 1975 The International Olympic Committee adds anabolic steroids to its list of banned substances
- 1983 The governing body of the Pan Am Games in Caracas strips Chicago weightlifter Jeff Michels of three gold medals, and three other Latin American weightlifters of theirs, when they test positive for anabolic steroids
- 1988 The high-profile rivalry between sprinters Carl Lewis and Ben Johnson comes to a head when Johnson posts a record-smashing time of 9.79 seconds. Johnson's time is deleted from record books and his gold medal stripped after the anabolic steroid Stanozol is detected in his urine sample
- 1991 Twenty former East German coaches admit to administering anabolic steroids to some of their swimmers
- 1990 The Anabolic Steroids Control Act is introduced by Congress. for which trafficking is now a felony, not a misdemeanor
- 992 NFL defensive end Lyle Alzado dies of brain cancer on May 14. The 43-year-old two-time All-Pro believed his disease was the result of more than two decades of steroid and HGH
- 1999 The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), an independent agency, is formed through the IOC
- 2000 Urinalysis tests are improved to detect EPO, but blood doping -- the injection of one's own red blood cells -- remains undetectable. Potential risks of blood doping include blood clots, strokes and thromboses
- 2005 Former NFL linebacker Bill Romanowski admits to using steroids obtained through Conte
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